


The Road to Truth

by BlindPilot, McSparklez



Category: Muse
Genre: Angst, Belldom - Freeform, Humour, M/M, New Year's Resolutions, co-authors, how do you sex?, the road to truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 11:11:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlindPilot/pseuds/BlindPilot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/McSparklez/pseuds/McSparklez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>loosely based on this Livejournal mkmeme prompt: Pre-relationship Belldom. Matt writes a list of New Years Resolutions, one of which is to stop lying. On the morning of January 1st, he finds himself physically incapable of lying, resulting in hilarity (think Liar Liar.) But also, because he can no longer lie, he finally admits his feelings to Dom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road to Truth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlexisGreen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexisGreen/gifts).



> This is a little thing McSparklez and I have written out of boredom and it came out way longer than we expected. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I hope you'll enjoy it, too. 
> 
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and has never happened. At least not as far as we know. We do not own any of the people mentioned and do not mean to offend. The last quote in italics is taken from Buddha.

„ _Be happy you got rid of her.“_

_Dom was sitting next to him on the sofa, chucking another can of beer. “I mean, you got your freedom back, yeah? That’s something,” he added after finishing the beer._

_It was the first time they were sitting together in a long time. After the break-up months ago, Matt had decided to become a full-time hermit and found enough excuses not to leave his house or invite his friends over to last a life-time. And then they got so busy with the album that there wasn’t really time to have private meet-ups. But then Dom had decided to use the damn spare key he had given him last year to come over and cheer him up. Or, you know, at least try to cheer Matt up, because Dom was doing a pretty shit job at it. It was his first Christmas without her and it hurt._ _A lot. No, he wasn’t happy Gaia left him and no, he didn’t want his freedom back, not like this._

“ _You know,” he started, “if I wanted advice from someone I’d have written to Seventeen magazine or called Tom, because he's good at this girly stuff, even if he doesn't like to admit it. You, on the other hand, are truly shit at it."_

_Dom’s face softened. “I’m sorry. I’m not… Good at this.” A hand landed on Matt’s shoulder and he didn’t know if he liked the comfort or wanted to jump away immediately. “This might sound harsh but you need to get over her. It’s been 3 months, she won’t come back. And I don’t want to see you this sad, mate. It doesn’t suit you.”_

_Matt drew in a short breath and looked away. Then he mumbled, “Easier said than done.”_

_Dom knew that he had reached a dead end and was eager to change the topic because pressing Matt on matters like this was never a good idea._

“ _Got any New Year’s resolutions?” he asked._

_Matt looked up again and gave him a lopsided grin. “Why Dom, do you think there’s anything I need to change about myself?”_

“ _Where should I start?” Dom chuckled softly._

“ _Whoa, whoa! Stop there!” Matt pouted at him and crossed his arms over his chest._

“ _N’aw, did I offend you, Mr Perfect?” Dom grinned and ruffled the brunette’s hair._

“ _Seriously, stop it,” Matt huffed in annoyance and slapped Dom’s hand away. “Go on, then. What are your resolutions? Wanna stop being a dick?”_

“ _Getting a little touchy, aren’t we?” Dom’s smile tightened a bit because he wasn’t exactly sure why Matt was acting like a five year old. It wasn’t like they never made fun of each other._

“ _No,” Matt kept pouting. “I just don’t like stupid New Year’s resolutions.”_

“ _That’s only because you always forget about them as soon as you’ve made them,” Dom kept teasing with a wide grin._

_Matt usually didn’t mind Dom’s teasing but somehow he really was a little touchy. Not necessarily because of the break-up. Yes, it had shaken him up. But it wasn’t exactly the only reason._

“ _Fine. I will find some resolution and fulfil it,” he suddenly declared with unexpected fierceness._

“ _Of course you will.” Dom patted his shoulder and turned back to the TV._

_It was just natural that Dom didn’t really believe this because… well, Matt wasn’t the best at resolutions. And basically everything that had to do with keeping his word (the fans would always testify to that). But this time he would manage! And oh, he would be so good at it!_

_____

Dom’s New Year’s party was buzzing. It seemed like half the city was there to get drunk and celebrate the new year. Chris had excused himself early, telling everyone he wanted to celebrate with Kelly and the kids. Matt, however, wasn’t so lucky; he had no excuse to leave and so he was stuck at this party with people he didn’t care about. At least he had managed to get a table by himself that also was located in the furthest corner possible.

As it was obvious to everyone, his mood hadn’t really improved over the past days. Gaia still hadn’t called (not that he expected her to) and he had no idea what the stage design for the upcoming tour should look like and the deadline was approaching fast. And to top it all, Dom was... he didn't even know where the fuck Dom was. Probably chatting up another bird or twenty, when he should be with Matt, talking and laughing, and maybe doing some of the things Matt secretly dreamed about. Hoo-fucking-ray, he really wanted to shoot himself.

Someone bumped into his back and whatever the content of his cup was, it was now all over Matt’s back.

“Sorry, mate,” the guy said and Matt could see that he was drunk. “Didn’t pay attention to the road.”  

“Fuck off. Jesus Christ.” He shoved the drunkard away and tried to dry his shirt with a napkin, but it smelled horribly like a bad vodka-tequila mix. “For fuck’s sake,” he swore again and headed for the bathroom. After trying to get the stench out of his clothes (he was rather unsuccessful and only achieved to get them wet again) he stared at his reflection in the mirror. “Not the Year of the Bellamy,” he mumbled to himself. “Cannot wait for it to be over.” He sighed again, walking back to his table. Really, everything had gone downhill a couple of months ago and now he had nothing left to do other than to feel sorry for himself. And finish that damn resolution list. He couldn’t get Dom’s stupid idea out of his head, but he couldn’t come up with anything that would impress his best friend. In fact, the whole list was a huge piece of disappointment, even to himself.

 

___

 

 _Oh, he would so fail at it. It had been three days since their bet and he still had nothing on the list that would be worthwhile. In fact, he didn’t have_ anything _on it, because he hadn’t even started yet. Damn Dom and his damn ideas! He spent another five minutes staring at the empty paper, before swearing loudly. For fuck’s sake, he was a songwriter and damn good at that (modesty wasn’t his strong suit, obviously), he had written a full symphony for the new album. How hard could it be to come up with a resolution list?!_

_Matt grabbed the pen and started to scribble things down. Going to the gym once a week? Sounds good. Showering every day? I guess everyone would be happy. Tone down on the pasta? No, no. Definite no. He crossed out the last point on the list. He’d never be able to stick to that. And come to think of it, neither would he go to the gym. And the shower thing… Well. He sighed. He needed another glass of wine for this._

 

___

 

“Matt, here you are!”

A sudden pat on the back and the ever so high-spirited voice of one Dominic Howard pulled him out of his thoughts again.

The blonde sat down on the other side of his table and directed his sunshine smile at him.

“What have you been up to? No birds for you?” He turned around in his chair to scan the small crowd. “Maybe it’d be good for you to get some distraction.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m really not in the mood for meaningless hook-ups right now,” Matt replied while trying to hide the list that had been lying on the tabletop with his arm.

“Oh, what’s that?” Naturally it was the exact moment Dom chose to look at him again.

“Nothing,” Matt hurried to say, but too late. Dom had already made a grab for it.

“What is this?” he asked curiously and started to read out Matt’s New Year’s resolutions list. “Shower every day. Well, I wouldn’t complain,” he laughed. “Play more rarities. Really, Matt? You? What do you wanna kick? Feeling Good?” His laughter intensified and Matt just wanted to jump across the table and beat the living daylights out of him. He just about managed not to. “Learn to play a new instrument. What, boy genius isn’t happy with himself anymore? You already _are_ a walking one-man band, I hope you know that. Oh and what’s this? See Lady Gaga live?” Dom snorted with laughter. “Oh, Matt, sorry to say this, but that’s probably the only item on your list I can actually see you going through with.”

Matt’s face was positively on fire. Oh how he hated Dom in that moment. He clasped at his own hands under the table just so he wouldn’t (accidentally) strangle Dom. Or throw a chair at him.

“H’aw,” Dom sighed and wiped the tears of laughter out of his eyes. “You didn’t disappoint, though. This is exactly what I expected of you. Thanks, mate. After the other day I really thought you’d come up with some serious shit. World view stabilised, I guess.”

That was it, the infamous straw.

"So you think I can't do it, is that what you're trying to say?"

"I didn't say that, don't go all girly on me now, Matt. But you have to admit that it's difficult for you to be an adult most of the time."

He was just about to tell the drummer where he could shove his attitude, when someone came up to them and greeted Dom heartily. It only took Dom a minute to forget completely about his argument with Matt and another two to charm the pants off the girl he was just introduced to. Then they vanished into the partying crowd.

 _Well, this is just great_ , Matt thought to himself and let his forehead sink to the table top, one hand wrapped around his pint and the other tightly clasping his crumbled list. That damn stupid fucked up list.

“Excuse me, would you mind if I joined you?” a low, almost silky voice asked.

“What do you think?” Matt mumbled into the wood as sarcastically as he could manage.

“I think you could use some company.”

The legs of a chair scratched across the floor and suddenly Matt felt pretty uncomfortable with the gaze of someone he at least didn’t recognise by voice on him. He glanced up and found his gaze trapped by the dark eyes of a complete stranger. It took him a moment to move himself upright again but then he realised that the man opposite him didn’t really fit the rest of the crowd. He was considerably older than Dom’s other guests and seemed a lot less… annoyingly happy.

“You are Matthew, right?”

“In person. And you are…?”

“A party guest,” the man winked at him. Winked. He had actually just winked at him. What the fuck?

Matt didn’t feel appalled, though. Quite the contrary even. He felt sort of tantalised, like the man had a special aura about him.

“So Matt, how are you?”

And just like that the words started flooding out of him like some dam had finally given way.

“Frankly speaking, I feel like shit. You’re a guest of Dom, right? Then you probably know about our band. Well, we started recording our album last year and now I’m way behind on schedules. I still need to figure out a first draft for our arena tour stage because I _had_ to insist on doing that. But instead of thinking about that I plunged into composing the most difficult piece of music I’ve ever worked on. Oh and that was also the time my long-term girlfriend decided to break up with me because apparently I’m just a failure at life. You know what her last words were before she left me? She said ‘I give up, this isn’t worth it anymore’ and just went out of the door! Since then I haven’t heard a single peep from her. Guess you can imagine the ego boost it gave me. And then there’s my best friend, Dom. You know him. He just… he frustrates me to no end! I guess he’s kind of a reason why things with Gaia went tits up in the end. It feels like we’ve known each other since the beginning of recorded time and still he doesn’t get the hint. You know, I’m kind of in love with him. It all started out with some sort of admiration, because hey, the guy was cool. But the better we got to know each other, the stronger I started to feel about him. And now I’m fucked. Because obviously Dom doesn’t give two shits about-”

“Matthew?” The man eventually interrupted him.

Matt looked up in bewilderment. Bewilderment about being interrupted and about what the hell he was thinking, telling a stranger virtually _everything_.

“I think there’s only one way out of your misery. You need to be honest with Dom. And yourself. Stop putting it off.”

“Honesty,” Matt chuckled darkly and looked down at his hands. “If it only was that easy. You know-” But when he looked up again, the man was gone.

Matt’s eyes darted around the packed room but there was no sign of the mysterious party guest.

“Well shit, yet another person you’ve scared away,” he mumbled to himself and took a great swig out of his pint.

 

After that the evening didn’t really get better. It got even worse if that was actually possible. Matt finally chose to leave when he saw Dom making out with the bird from earlier in the middle of the dance floor. He didn’t owe Dom anything for this fuck-up of an evening. With that thought in mind he shoved some really, really drunk people out of his way and made a beeline for the exit.

 

___

 

“Stupid Dom and his stupid resolutions,” Matt cursed quietly and knocked back another whiskey.

A few pieces of paper were strewn across the table in front of him. The first thing he’d done when he’d arrived at his flat was to throw away his resolutions list.

Quickly he poured himself another glass and gripped it tight in his left hand while holding a pen in his right.

Of course going to a Lady Gaga concert wasn’t a serious resolution for 2009 but what else was he supposed to write down? Obviously he couldn’t get Gaia back and by now he wasn’t even sure if that was what he wanted. Being more successful? Well, he’d never be able to accomplish that on his own, it was a band thing and if they weren’t all pulling in the same direction he was bound to fail anyway. He knew that the others loved Muse just as fiercely but sometimes he felt a little too responsible. But he was a perfectionist and usually all went exactly as he wanted. Band-wise at least.

He knocked back his newly poured whiskey and started scribbling down his thoughts almost angrily.

 

_\- throw Gaia’s things away and settle the Como property issue_

_\- give away some responsibility concerning the band, it’ll burn you out otherwise_

_\- stop being a fucking coward_

 

He stopped there for a minute and the weird, one-sided conversation with the stranger came back to him. He wasn’t exactly sure why but that man had really gotten to him.

 

_\- stop being a fucking coward and be more honest with yourself_

 

He tapped the pen to his chin, deeply in thought. Then he crossed the “yourself” out and added “everyone” instead.

With a satisfied look at his improved and more… mature resolutions, Matt put the list away and pulled another piece of paper towards him. He downed his fourth whiskey that night and started to write down some random lyrics he’d probably not even deign to look at as soon as he was sober again.

 

___

 

Matt woke up with a groan when his mobile pulled him out of his not so blissful sleep. His aching head was lolling over the edge of his sofa and he had drooled on the soft leather. _Classy, Bellamy, really classy_ , he thought to himself while his phone kept on buzzing on the glass table. He tried to get his stiff limbs to move but unfortunately it was not that easy. His whole body was filled up with a dull pain that could only be the result of his uncomfortable sleeping position. And the whiskey. When he finally managed to lift his arm and make a grab for his phone, the buzzing had stopped. Matt squinted at the screen and realised that it was noon already. He also found four missed calls from Dom waiting for him. With a deep sigh he pressed the return call button, lowered his head onto the sofa again and closed his eyes while waiting for his best friend to pick up.

“Matt! Fucking finally!” Dom’s unmistakably worried voice boomed through the receiver.

“God, Howard, could you maybe pipe down? My head’s in pieces,” Matt replied with a low grumble.

“Why the hell did you leave without saying goodbye or at least telling someone?” Of course he did not pipe down.

“I was tired and uncomfortable and just wanted to go home.” At least it wasn’t a lie. “Also I needed a good wank to clear my head. Then I fell asleep to polar bear mating rituals.” Oh. That was brutal honesty.

“You... what?” Dom sounded a little taken aback.

“Yeah, y’know, I was all tense and shit.”

“Okay, Matt. Thanks for... telling me.” Dom took a deep breath. “So you’re alright now? You seemed a bit... troubled.”

“I wasn’t really happy with myself and those New Year’s resolutions. You were right about me not being able to stick to this stuff. And then you went to see this woman and I-“ He just about managed to stop before anything worse could happen. “Sorry Dom, gotta go. Catch you later.”

He hung up without giving Dom the chance to reply. What the hell was going on? Why did he just tell Dom about his wanking session and his self-disappointment?

He must have drunk a lot to be so careless with what he was saying. Granted, he never really thought before he spoke, but his brain-to-mouth filter usually managed just fine. “Today is going to be one of these days, eh,” he mumbled to himself before he got up and decided to get a quick shower.

 

Freshly showered, dressed and minus the ink stains on his face (God knows when or how they’d gotten there), he headed for the café a few blocks away. It wasn’t the best, but it would do for today, as he really couldn’t be arsed to go long distances just to get somewhere no one, or at least not many people, knew his face. After he sat down and ordered a coffee, he pulled out his phone to play some Sudoku. Matt could admit that he was pretty shit at it and his hangover didn’t really make thinking any easier, but it helped killing time until the waitress arrived with his coffee. He was just about to get sucked back into his fail of a Sudoku puzzle when the waitress asked him if he wanted to order anything else. “I can recommend the Italian Beef sandwich. It’s the chef’s favourite,” she said.

He looked up at her and replied, “Sure. But to be quite honest with you, if that’s the chef’s favourite, then I don’t even want to know the worst he can serve. I’ve been here before and the sandwiches taste as if you cooked rat and pickled it in a mix of onions and mustard.” In hindsight, Matt couldn’t decide whose eyes became bigger; his or the waitress’.

“Sorry, sorry,” He apologised immediately and nearly spilled his coffee over his pants when he jumped up like a frightened meerkat. “It doesn’t seem to be my day.”

Incredibly embarrassed by his outburst, the singer pulled out a few notes and pushed them into the waitress’ hands before he wished her a good day and fled the café, the cup of coffee clutched tightly, as fast as he could.

On a whim he decided that walking might clear his head a little. Tightly wrapped in his coat and with his coffee still clutched in glove-clad hands Matt made his way through London’s almost empty streets. There were a few people here and there, most of them looking like they were truly regretting last night’s hook-ups or the amounts of alcohol they’d imbibed.

Matt, though, was taking his very personal and slightly different walk of shame. Of course he wasn’t exactly known for choosing his words with care, but the things he’d already said only one day into the new year? Those were unusual, even for him.

So what the hell was going on with him? Why would he insult a completely innocent girl in a café? Only because he didn’t like their sandwiches? Unlikely.

“Hey! Hey you!”

He knew someone was trying to get his attention, but he chose to ignore it. It wasn’t exactly the best of times to approach Matt Bellamy, not when he was brooding and generally feeling unsociable.

“Mate, could you stop there for a second?”

A very bold stranger actually dared to touch his shoulder from behind and Matt turned around angrily.

“I’m not your fucking mate, arsehole!” he growled and the young man took an unsteady step back, holding up his hands in defence.

He stank of alcohol and his wobbly legs just seemed to support Matt’s assessment. A student on his way home from a party. At noon.

“Just wanted to know if you’ve maybe got a fiver for me. Really need to get the bus,” the stranger slurred.

“I’ve got a fiver, yes. But unfortunately for you I’m not inclined to part with it just yet. You’d probably just go and buy more booze with it anyway. And you stink like hell,” Matt spat at him.

“Sorry, forget I asked,” the man said and backed away quickly.

Matt might look tiny, but his rage could be intimidating. He turned on his heels and resumed his walk down the road.

Wow… usually he would’ve just said something along the lines of ‘sorry, but no’ just to get rid of him as quickly as possible. But this… this had been brutal honesty, the first things that had come to his mind. Slowly but surely an absurd theory started to form in his mind, but a theory nevertheless. And the only thing he could possibly come up with. He went up to the next person that crossed his path who happened to be a woman roughly his age.

“Excuse me, this might sound a little strange but could you maybe ask me a question?”

She looked at him in confusion, but nodded. “Erm… who are you?”

“Matthew James Bellamy, frontman of a band called Muse,” he shot back even though he’d thought about giving her a false name. But this had been too easy a question and didn’t really prove his theory.

“Could you ask me another?”

“Jesus, erm…” she thought out loud while openly staring at him. “Are you in a relationship?”

“Not anymore. She dumped me because she thought I was an utter fail at relationships. Anyway, there is someone but I cannot tell him because he’s my best mate.”

The woman’s eyes bulged at that and Matt clapped a hand over his mouth. Shit. What the actual freaking god damned hell?

“Thanks,” he mumbled through his fingers and made a less than glorious escape.

Running down the street and spilling the remains of his coffee over the sleeve of his coat, he decided that no way could he face any of his friends. Not with the state he was in. And _especially_ not Dom.

 

___

 

Later that night Matt was sitting at his kitchen table with yet another uncorked bottle of his favourite red wine. He had sworn to save that expensive stuff for special occasions. But honestly – and that’s the only way Matt was able to be at the moment – what occasion could be more special than having only just realised that you could not lie anymore.

“My name is Oba-,” he tried to say, but the sentence just wouldn’t come out. He couldn’t even lie to himself.

God, this was frustrating. And dangerous! What if he spilled the beans in front of Dom? What if he actually told him without being able to go back on it? It would not be the worst thing, after all he wanted Dom to know. But not like this.

With a deep sigh he poured himself another glass while resisting the strong urge to bang his head into the tabletop. Luckily enough – or not, that remained to be seen – someone chose that exact time to ring his doorbell. Groaning Matt got up from his chair and shuffled into the hallway. His mood had hit rock-bottom by then and his head was already throbbing again. When he opened the door without having peeped through the spyhole and was suddenly faced with a broadly grinning Chris, his heart sank even further.

“Hi mate, good to see you! And happy New Year!” Chris greeted the smaller man and embraced him in a tight bear hug.

“Hi Chris,” Matt replied, feeling only slightly strangled. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting a friend, obviously,” Chris chuckled and made his way past Matt and into the flat. He was carrying two brown paper bags that obviously had some delicious smelling food in them.  “And what have you been up to?”

“Well, I told Dom about me wanking last night, insulted a waitress, took a long walk and ended up uncorking my £520 bottle of Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace 2007. If you hadn’t come by now I would probably have taken a long shower and knocked back the rest of that wine afterwards. You?”

“Erm…” Chris looked at him, stunned. “What?”

Matt just waved it off, turned around, took the bottle from the kitchen and led the way to his living room. There he slumped down into his couch, expecting Chris to join him but secretly wishing that he would just leave. But join him he did.

“Here, I brought us some burgers from the chippie down the road.” Chris offered him one of the bags.

“God, I’ve always hated that shit. The fat in that meat gives my stomach cramps. I think they might even have rats in their kitchen,” Matt replied but took the bag nevertheless.

“Matt, are you…” Chris started, but Matt cut him short.

“Please, for Christ’s fucking sake, don’t ask,” Matt almost pleaded and took the burger out of the bag, biting into it without hesitation.

“What are you doing? I thought you hated these burgers?” Chris asked. He was completely bewildered by his band mate’s weird behaviour. Weird by even his own extremely high standards, that is.

“I just needed to shut myself up,” he declared, munching on the soft, greasy meat.

“Well, that’s a first,” Chris coughed and quickly took a bite of his own burger.

 

About an hour and a few more or less awkward remarks from Matt’s side later, the singer was sure that Chris had elaborated a fairly good theory about what was going on with him.

“Hey, Chris,” Matt yawned and took a sip from his third glass of wine.

“Yeah?” Chris replied lazily.

“Remember that time we were high as fuck and ended up in a whirlpool?” Well, it was random, but he couldn’t stop himself from voicing his revealing train of thought. The wine sure didn’t help with that.

“Yeah,” the bassist sighed, a little confused. “Why?”

“Been fantasising about a threesome with you guys now and then ever since.”

It came out in a high-pitched squeak, sounding a little like he wanted to shout it from the top of his lungs while at the same time trying frantically to swallow the words down again.

“Come again?” Chris stared blankly at the brunette, utterly unsure of what he’d just heard.

“Yeah, and that time you took a shower with Dom...” Matt clutched his hands over his mouth, otherwise unable to stop himself from talking.

He could see that Chris was doing his very best to not laugh him in the face for what he’d just admitted. Amusing, he definitely found Matt’s disastrous situation amusing.

“Didn’t know you swing that way,” the taller man eventually let out in a breathy chuckle.

Okay, that was enough. Even Matt could only take so much ridicule. He jumped up, still with one hand over his mouth, and tried to motion for his band mate to leave with the other. Luckily Chris was accustomed to the sometimes (almost always) weird ways of the Bellamy and got the hint. With a small snicker he got up from the sofa and stole a glance at his watch.

“Time to call it a night anyway. The wife is probably waiting to beat me up because I left her with the kids,” he said his goodbyes and patted the singer on the shoulder.

Matt tightened his jaw and nodded. “Yeah, you’d deserve that.”

“Wow, thanks for the honesty,” Chris snickered again and left Matt to his own devices.

Shit. He knew.

 

___

 

“Matt, seriously, it’s been three days since we’ve last heard of you. What’s going on? Are you okay? Come on, I’m fucking worried for you!”

Matt was cowering on the floor next to the little table his answering machine was sitting on. So far he had received about forty of those messages. Some from Chris, Tom, Morgan and Dom A. and a whole lot from Dom.

Dom and Chris had even been at his door a few times. He knew they were just worried, but he’d stuck his fingers into his ears and waited until they’d left again just so he wasn’t tempted to shout his answers through the door.

He pressed the replay button almost lazily and listened to Dom’s latest call again. It was somewhat of a relief to be able to hear his voice without actually having to answer. Although he was murmuring his honest to God replies to himself. Someone demanded the truth, after all. And as long as that happened… well, he was bound to give them what they asked for.

He’d spent the last three days holed up in his flat. The silence and solitude had been a blessing in a way. The only problem was that a brooding Matt left to his own devices was bound to develop some self-destructive habits. He’d emptied about six bottles of expensive red wine but eaten almost nothing. He’d spent most of the time in his bed or listening to his answering machine or simply just pitying himself. He hadn’t even showered because fuck, no one was there he could lie to about it. Oh God, how much he missed lying. Or just telling silly half-truths. Or just keeping quiet. He never thought he’d say that one.

Looking out of the window he cursed himself and his self-loathing before he got up and collected some fresh clothes. Staying here and feeling sorry for himself wouldn’t help him, he needed to clear his head for a bit. So if talking was out of question, what else did he do whenever he needed to express himself?

 

___

 

Matt sneaked into the studio. It was already past 7pm and there were no cars outside. So he was positive that he could at least spend two to three hours at his piano and in complete solitude. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had enough of that these past couple of days, but it was different when he was _not_ confined to his flat. Granted, his flat was fucking huge. But even the biggest place could get a little cramped after three days of locking yourself up in it and doing nothing but contemplate your life choices.

He threw his jacket carelessly onto the chair he usually occupied when they were recording and made his way through the door and into the recording area where his grand piano was proudly sitting in the middle of the room. Of course it was in the exact same moment when he finally wanted to sit down in front of the keys that he heard the rather loud bang of a door slamming shut. Just a second later two familiar faces appeared on the other side of the glass window that separated the two main areas. Matt jumped up in a fright and hit his knee on the ebony wood of the dearly loved instrument.

“Fucking shit bastard piano,” Matt cursed but made his way to the nearest (and only) exit.

Maybe, just maybe, he was lucky enough to escape Dom and Chris. But of course not. What was he even thinking getting his hopes up like that?

“Hey Matt.” Chris smiled at him when he (not so) discreetly blocked Matt’s only way out.

“Oh hi, fancy seeing you here.” Dom leaned around Chris’ shoulder with a less than reassuring grin gracing his features.  

“I… just wanted to leave, actually.” The singer hesitated, feeling trapped like a deer caught in the headlights of an especially huge truck. Or maybe even a tank. Wait, did tanks have headlights?

Matt shook his head to get rid of those ridiculous thoughts. At least for the moment.

“Ah no, please stay. We haven’t heard from you in days! We were worried, man.” The bassist looked it and Matt almost wanted to believe him. He didn’t really, though.

“What have you been up to?” Dom asked and stepped beside Chris, his grin softening into a small smile.

“I holed myself up in my flat and basically drank and thought a lot,” came Matt’s answer although he was gnashing his teeth. He really did not want to talk (which was a rare occurrence and therefore should have been a warning sign to his two band mates).

“And why didn’t you even pick up the phone?” Dom asked, almost reproachful.

“Because I really, really didn’t want to talk. To anyone.” Matt bit his lip. He knew that those words would probably hurt, but he was physically unable to say anything else.

Chris pawed Dom in the ribs and grinned a little. Then both musicians looked back at Matt and he had an immediate feeling of approaching trouble in his guts.

“Anyway…” Dom looked at him, a smirk playing at his lips. “Matt, Chris told me you were acting weird when he visited you.” Yeah, you could call it _weird_. “And I’ve been wondering about a couple things he said since then.” A broad grin appeared on the drummer’s face. “Listen, I’ve got a question for you and I want you to be completely honest with me.”

No, no, no, anything but that.

“And I’m really exposing myself here, so please be… nice about it,” Dom continued. “What do you think about my leopard print affinity?”

What? Well, at least that was an easy one.

“It’s fucking ridiculous.” Matt simply shrugged. “I mean, it kinda works for you, at least if your intention is to look like a gay zoo animal on the run.”

“Now, that’s something he wouldn’t lie about anyway.” Chris looked at Dom, scratching his head. “He’s right, by the way.”

“Oi!” Dom exclaimed and his hand already twitched at his side as if he was about to slap Chris on the arm for that comment. But then he decided against it because he was well aware of the fact that Chris could introduce him to the wall. Intimately. “Philistines,” he just muttered instead and turned back to the singer, choosing not to challenge the bassist’s patience.

“Well. There’s something else we’ve always been dying to know,” Chris said almost innocently. “Be honest! Are you an alien from outer space?”

Matt actually managed to look dumbstruck for a second before his mouth once again started working of its own accord.

“No, I’m not. I was born in Cambridge. As a human being. And you damn well know that.”

Dom darted a sceptical glance at Chris. “That kind of kills your theory.”

Chris only shrugged. “I don’t know, mate. Maybe he’s really human, unlikely as it sounds?” They both turned their attention back to Matt.

“Well then. There’s another thing,” Dom smiled sweetly. “Have you ever, y’know, tried on women’s clothes? And if yes, did you like it?”

The singer’s eyes bulged in utter disbelief, but of course his mouth was bound to embarrass him.

“Yes, I have. I tried it when I was 16 and felt a little awkward about it. But I’ve only recently discovered that there’s something very liberating about skirts. They leave you a lot of… room.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Matt squirmed uncomfortably and dared a look around Chris’ broad chest. There was no way he could ever make a run for it with him still in the way.

“Oh, that’s… well, very honest of you. We appreciate it,” the bassist said and Matt saw that he just about managed not to give in to his amusement and roll around the floor in tears of laughter.

“I don’t care in the least whether you appreciate it or not,” the singer sneered through gritted teeth.

“Aw come on, don’t be like this,” Dom snickered and patted him on the shoulder.

Matt flinched away. Why the hell were his two best mates doing this to him? They had to know what was wrong, why were they tormenting him?

“So… about what you told me yesterday… it really was the truth?” Chris asked carefully.

“Yes,” Matt whispered in a small voice, feeling ashamed.

“What are you talking about?” Dom’s eyes darted back and forth between Matt and Chris.

God, please no!

“Dom!” Chris warned him but said nothing more. He seemed a little torn between his sympathy for Matt and his own curiosity.

“I told Chris that I’ve been fantasising about a threesome with you two. From time to time.” Matt’s mouth kept moving and he felt like ripping his tongue out just so he would have to stop talking.

He couldn’t remember a single time when he’d felt as humiliated as he did in that very moment.

Dom seemed frozen for a moment and Matt hoped that the topic would be dropped. To his bad luck, Chris apparently couldn't shut his mouth.

"Which position?" he blurted out.

No, it didn't make Matt feel better that Chris seemed to regret his question immediately. Meanwhile, Dom's frown quickly turned into a shit-eating grin and Matt felt like his knees would give way any second. He looked at Dom and braced himself for the inevitable truth.

“I’d be under Dom,” he muttered defeated and looked down at his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. “He’s the most experienced in this and I’m sure he could give me exactly what I want.”

Dom’s grin quickly fell away and Matt was left with the drummer’s disbelieving eyes fixed on him. In the corner of his eye Matt could see Chris shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. It felt like time had stopped while the silence around them gradually thickened. The singer wished for the ground to swallow him whole. Eventually Dom gripped his shoulders and his next words came out in nothing more than a whisper, barely audible.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Matt flinched away again and looked up, angry tears already burning in his eyes. Suddenly Dom and Chris didn’t look so smug anymore.

“Oh fuck, you know exactly what is wrong with me! You know that I can’t lie, no matter what you ask, and still you’re pestering me! You think this is so funny, don’t you? Making me spill all my secrets, no matter how fucked up I feel about them? Very entertaining.” Matt huffed angrily. “Here, I’m letting you in on another secret. It fucking hurts! Imagine not being able to protect any thoughts you might be having! Yeah, exposed is what I am! And you’re taking advantage of that. Great friends you are, thanks. Very much.” With that Matt shoved past his shocked band mates and didn’t spare them another look, instead choosing to storm out dramatically.

 

___

 

He walked around aimlessly for a while, trying not to cry. He never expected his mates, his _best_ mates, to be so cruel to him. What had he ever done to deserve this? Sure, he was a little shit and tested their nerves constantly, but it’s not like he ever made fun of their most intimate thoughts or humiliated them.

“Fuck!” he swore loudly and punched the wall of a house he had stopped at. He slid down the wall and gave into the crying. Fucking Dom. Fucking Chris. Fucking everything and everyone. What was he supposed to do now? Crawl back to his bandmates to… to what? To apologise for being honest? _They_ had asked _him_ , so if they felt uncomfortable now it was entirely on them.

“Yo, mate”, a random passerby addressed him. “You okay?”

“Do I look like I’m okay?” The singer sniffed once and slowly got up. “My best friends just kicked me in the face, metaphorically speaking.”

The guy looked slightly taken aback and a bit annoyed. “Well, fine. Sorry for you. I didn’t want to hear the story of your life, okay?”

“It’s not like I wanted to tell you the ‘story of my life’, okay? It’s not like I wanted to say most of the things I did today. But I have to keep talking, I have to tell people the truth. I can’t stop it, no matter what I try. Do you think I like this?” The guy shook his head, clearly confused. “Exactly. I hate it. I hate, hate, hate it! And now you keep walking away, eh?” he shouted after the fleeing bloke. When he was out of sight, Matt whispered to himself, “I wouldn’t want to be around me either right now, If I had the choice.”

With another sigh he slowly made his way back home, still lost in thought. What exactly had happened to him? It was like one moment he was fine and the next he was cursed by an evil sorcerer trying to ruin his life. He hadn’t done anything wrong in the past week, had he? Sure, he wasn’t Mr. Sunshine at Dom’s party and he wasn’t the nicest person when he talked to that old man, but… He stopped dead in his tracks. Wait a minute, he remembered how weird the conversation had been and that he had spoken out a lot of things he usually wouldn’t admit. It had all started when that man had approached him and started a conversation. _He_ was the one that had done this to him! Matt had to find him and beg him to make this stop. And he had to find him now, because his only other option was to go completely insane and he didn’t really fancy that.

 

___

 

Just two hour into his fruitless search for that man it had started raining. Well fuck. Now, a few hours later, dawn was already breaking and he hadn’t achieved anything but to get soaked. There wasn’t the slightest hint that the guy even existed. Maybe the frontman was going insane after all? And wouldn’t _that_ be a great headline? “Come ride with me, straight to the psychiatry - Muse singer in dire need of a shrink”.

No, no, that man _had_ been at the party, he just knew it. But he was well and truly fucked. Probably doomed to live a life in solitude so he wouldn’t spill any more embarrassing secrets. Matt winced, the memory of his friends making fun of him still tormenting his mind.

He turned the corner to his house and stopped abruptly. There was someone sitting on his stairs. No, not someone. Dom. _Great_ , he thought, _more making fun ahead_. He slowly walked over to the drummer, who didn’t raise his head until Matt stood in front of him. The brunette could see that Dom’s eyes were slightly red rimmed. Had he been crying?

“Hey,” Dom started while he got up. It looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn’t.

Matt tried to smile, but it seemed that even with that he couldn’t lie.

“Hey, yourself.” He opened the door and let them both in, before he turned around to his friend, “Have you been waiting long?”

“All night.”

“All night?”

“Yes. I didn’t…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Matt. I’m so fucking sorry, you have no idea. I didn’t think. I thought it would be funny to ask you all this shit and find out something I could tease you about. But you’re right. Damn it, you’re fucking right, okay? I didn’t think about how you’d feel and now I feel like a complete wanker.” The blonde sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It must be awful. Being unable to lie. But you have to believe me, we didn’t mean any harm. We would never do that to you. _I_ would never hurt you deliberately.”

“I know,” Matt said and, thanks to his curse, he knew it was the truth. “I know, Dom.” He sighed. “Let’s get out of the wet clothes, okay? I’m freezing, so you must be as well.

 

After they’d both changed into dry clothes, Matt decided to make some tea while Dom busied himself with finding a good TV programme. The singer knew they’d have to talk about what had happened and he wasn’t lying to himself (ha ha, as if he could), he was shit scared. Sure, he knew Dom was truly sorry, _because Dom never cries. Ever._ but that wouldn’t stop him from asking questions about Matt’s condition and what would he say then? “I’m sorry, it seems like I made a New Year’s resolution about not lying anymore because I’m a fucking coward and can’t even tell you how I fucking feel about you.” He was sure that would go down well. He took the two cups of tea and mentally braced himself before he entered the living room.

Dom was staring at the TV, but it seemed like he was lost in his thoughts, because he didn’t move until Matt nudged him with his foot and handed him the tea. They both sat next to each other, not speaking a word, until Matt couldn’t take it anymore.

“Listen…” he started, but was interrupted by Dom.

“Don’t say a word.” The blonde turned around to stare his singer right in the eyes. “I don’t want you to spill any more secrets that you don’t want to share.” Matt nodded at him, gratefully and Dom added, “That’s what friends are for, right?” before he realised what he was saying. Matt was about to reply, when the blonde’s hand shot out to cover Matt’s mouth and Matt thanked every lucky star in the universe that his friend had such amazing reflexes. Otherwise he would have told him about how he thought that Dom had hung the moon and that he could kiss him in that instant. _Yeah, thanks to whatever higher entity that gifted Dominic Howard with these reflexes_. Meanwhile, said drummer grinned at him shyly. “Let’s just enjoy the telly and not speak for a while, okay?” So they did just that for. Apart from a few comments about the programme from Matt (“Really, Dom? Desperate Housewives? That is _so girly_.”) and Dom looking at his best friend a couple of times, as if he wanted to ask him a question, they stayed silent and pretended to be immersed in whatever show was running then.

That worked for about half an hour after which Dom just couldn’t resist his curiosity any longer. Matt saw him turning in his seat but tried to keep his eyes glued to the TV screen.

“So… you can’t lie anymore,” Dom said, trying to get a reaction out of his best friend.

“Correct,” Matt simply replied, still not looking at him.

“Because you made it a New Year’s resolution?” the drummer urged him on.

With a deep sigh Matt eventually turned off the telly and faced Dom.

“Probably. I have no other explanation. Look, I really have no idea how this whole mess even happened.”

“But you didn’t, like… make a deal with the devil or something, right?”

Matt wasn’t exactly sure if Dom was serious or not, but he rolled his eyes and shook his head just in case.

“No. Jeez Dom, this is reality, not some crap movie.”

“Sorry, couldn’t stop myself.” Dom gave him a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Matt muttered and rubbed his face with one hand.

Silence threatened to settle between them again so Dom quickly said, “Mate, you… you’ve been acting all weird lately. And then the whole staying away thing after what… after what happened at the studio last night. You looked so sad and hurt and I thought you…” He took a deep breath. “Where were you?”

“I was out to find someone. This guy from your party. He sat with me for a few minutes,” Matt explained.

“Because you… fancy him?” Dom asked cautiously

“No Dom, don’t be daft. I only lo-” Matt made a quick grab for his tea and gulped it down in one long go. He burnt his whole mouth in the process and somehow still mumbled his answer into the cup, producing bubbles that started to drip down his chin and onto his shirt. Literally choking on his own words, Matt put down the cup again and spluttered the tea all over his jeans.

Words could not describe how unattractive he felt in that moment.

Meanwhile, Dom flailed his arms about and started patting Matt on the back. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I’m not gonna ask questions like that again, I promise!”

“Thanks,” Matt coughed, rubbing a few tears out of his eyes.

“So… this guy. What has he got to do with anything?” Dom tried to move the conversation back to the point before everything had gone tits up.

“Well, as I said, I talked to him for some minutes and kinda told him everything that was bothering me. He had this weird radiance that makes you talk and talk and talk even without knowing the person. Then he said that telling the truth was the only way to… to end my… my problem. And then he sort of vanished, just like, he was there one second, I looked at my glass and then he was gone. Poof.” He emphasized his words with a little hand gesture and then sank back into the sofa.

It took Dom a second to process everything, but then he wanted to know more. “What did this guy look like? Because, to be honest, every time I looked over to your table, you were sitting by yourself.”

“Yeah, maybe you missed him. It’s not like you were watching my table the whole evening,” Matt huffed. “Anyway. He was about Chris’ height, had longish grey hair and was probably somewhere in his mid-fifties. He was wearing dark clothes. Dunno, maybe jeans and a dress shirt. Not too sure anymore, it’s kind of a blur.”

“Okay, I-” Dom started but immediately got interrupted again.

“Oh oh, and he had this scar on his face. Like, from his left eye down to his mouth,” Matt added eagerly.

“Matt, how… how wasn’t that the first thing you remembered?” Dom asked incredulously.

The singer shrugged. “Does it really matter? I’m still surprised that I remember ever having been there. That party sucked, Dom. Hard.”

“Not true!” Dom exclaimed, a little offended.

“It is. Remember? I’m the world’s most honest person right now.” Finally, for the first time in what seemed like forever Dom saw Matt grin. Wide. Annoyingly wide.

“Whatever.” The drummer sighed heavily. “There was no such guy at the party. I know each and every person I invited and none of them fits your description.”

“But he was there! I swear! Granted, I was a little surprised to find a guy like that at one of your parties. He didn’t seem like your usual friends. He was kinda… mysterious? I don’t know, he had this special air about him. And then the vanishing part…” Matt palmed his chin in thought while a small grin spread across Dom’s face.

“So you say he was a Man of Mystery?”

“Shut up, Dom,” Matt snorted in annoyance.

“But… since then the truth’s unwinding? You cannot compromise it anymore?” Dom kept up the teasing because the felt the very strong urge to lighten the mood. At least a little.

“Seriously, it’s not funny,” the singer huffed, but it worked. His lips threatened to spread into a grin again.

A few moments passed in which they both just chuckled a bit and kept throwing each other amused smiles. Then Dom finally sobered up a bit and touched Matt’s shoulder almost affectionately. But then again, it might’ve just been wishful thinking on Matt’s part.

"Listen... I'm not sure if that bloke really exists or if you made it all up in your screwed up head. But we'll find a way out of this mess, okay?"

The next best insult was already on its way from Matt’s brain to his mouth, but he managed to bite it back. Insults were just insults and not necessarily the truth, right? Instead he nodded and allowed himself to lean into Dom’s touch.

“Let’s relax a for a bit today, I think we both need the rest.” Matt could do nothing but agree.

Dom got up from the sofa and stretched. “Just let me call up Chris really quick. He’s been just as worried. Do you want to talk to him?” The brunette shook his head no. “Okay, I’ll be back in a moment and then we’ll watch a bit more telly. Fancy some Lion King?”

Matt shook his head, but couldn’t hide the grin spreading across his lips. “You know I love that one, a lot.”

So they spent the whole day at Matt’s flat with as little conversation as possible. The smaller man was eternally grateful for that, because he was completely exhausted, physically and emotionally, and unable to catch up fast enough in case he had to block his mouth from spilling another awkward truth.

 

___

 

The next morning the two musicians were dead set on curing Matt from his curse. Because yes, by now it felt like more than just a big heap of shit and bad luck. Matt was lounging on Dom’s sofa and his eyes followed the blonde while he was walking up and down in front of him.

“Okay, if you’re really sure this Man of Mystery exists-”

“Dom, seriously, yesterday wants its jokes back.”

“-then we should start there. Maybe someone else knows the guy. Or at least talked to him.”

“So you finally believe me?”

“Well…”

Matt rolled his eyes and huffed in (almost) silent frustration. Dom ignored him for the sake of his own mental health and pulled out his phone. He pressed the one-touch dialling button for Chris and waited until their ever so patient bassist picked up his phone. Then Dom turned to speakers so Matt could listen as well.

“Hi Dom, what’s up?”

“Well… let me just get right to the point. Matt and I are trying to solve his little honesty problem. He has a vague idea about what’s going on. Did you see an older man, grey hair and all, at my party?”

“Erm… no, not as far as I remember. But I wasn’t there for too long anyway. Why?”

“Because Matt thinks that guy somehow… cursed him.”

“Cursed? Did he hit his head or something?”

Cue Matt. “No, Chris, I fucking didn’t hit my head! This guy, he talked to me. Or more like, I talked to him and everything went to shit from there.”

“Chris, I’m pretty sure I didn’t invite or see such a guy at my party.”

Dom tried to whisper in order to hide his suspicions from Matt, but to no avail.

“You fucking fucktards! I’m not crazy, that man was there!”

“Matt, come on, it’s-”

“You think it’s ‘improbable’, I know, but why the hell don’t you even try to believe me? I. Cannot. Lie. Duh.”

Dom closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. Then he turned his attention back to Chris.

“Thanks anyway. Just… let us know if you remember _anything_ that could possibly help.”

“Will do my best! And, Matt?”

Matt looked up at the phone, still pouting. “Yeah?”

“I’m… I’m so sorry for the other day. I… we didn’t mean to… to embarrass you like that. We just thought-”

“It’s okay, Chris. You were some downright bastards but I’ll get over it.”

“Okay… I’ll hear you soon then?”

“You can count on it.”

“Bye guys!”

“Bye Chris!”

Dom hung up after their synchronous goodbyes and gave Matt a pointed look, usually reserved for those moments when Matt acted like an insufferable child. Well, it wasn’t exactly uncalled-for.

Matt just shrugged and took a sip from his coffee.

 

The rest of that morning went by rather uneventfully. Dom made a few more calls, Matt made it more complicated by talking over Dom all the time (“But Dom, you know I can’t help it!”) and they basically came up empty.

After a small lunch they decided to leave the house for a bit. Some fresh air wouldn’t hurt and Matt thought it might be good idea to go back to the place Dom had rented for his party. So off they went, visiting a few of Dom’s friends on their way. No one had seen the mysterious man, though. Exactly what Dom had expected.

They just walked past a café when Matt noticed a girl, probably in her early twenties, ogling Dom’s bum unabashedly. Dom didn’t notice as he was just typing out a text message to the owner of the party place who was of fucking course one of Dom’s many friends.

“Darling, you may be cute, but he wouldn’t let you stay for breakfast. Spare yourself the heartbreak.”

The girl and Dom looked at Matt, the same horror written across both their faces.

“What the fuck, Matt?”

He just shrugged. “It’s not like I _wanted_ to say that,” - secretly he did, though - “but it’s still the truth. Sometimes it hurts but it can also save yourself a lot of trouble. And money. Just think of all the STDs you could get.”

”That’s none of your fucking business.”

Dom gave the poor, blushing girl an apologetic smile and pushed Matt around the next street corner.

 

About an hour later they walked out of the party place again. None of the staff had seen the man Matt described to them and they had to leave with empty hands. Again.

“Dom?” Matt eyed the face of his friend from the side.

“Yeah?” Dom tightened the scarf around his neck and pushed his hands into his jeans’ pockets.

“What’s going on with your hair?”

“Why, what do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s getting kinda thin. And lighter. You reckon it’s because you’re past 30 now?”

“WHAT?”

“I’m just saying, maybe you should think about a hair transplant. Better sooner than later by the looks of it.”

“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?”

“Well… I guess you’re not getting any younger.”

To top it off a group of young women had totally overheard their conversations and they were now giggling madly. Dom could deal with Matt’s antics. Hell, he’d done so for the past 20 something years. But even he had his boundaries, one of them being not to allow Matt to publicly humiliate him. Not in front of pretty women. And especially not about his hair. The fucking bastard knew how sore that spot was for him.

“I need a break,” he spat into Matt’s general direction and stomped off, for once acting miffed himself.

“Nah, wait Dom! Your hair’s still nice, I just meant that maybe you should take precautions! You know, just in case!”

Matt was on his heels already, literally pulling at his sleeve, but Dom simply took his arm away and kept walking.

“You’re not making it any better, Matt,” he warned his friend. He knew that this general situation was torture for Matt, but had his friend thought about _him_ in all of this? It wasn’t easy for him, either.

Just when Matt was about to reply, someone called Dom’s name. When they turned around it was the girl from the party. “Hey, hi!” She greeted the drummer shyly, while she pretended Matt wasn’t there.

“Hey.” Dom greeted back. “You got home alright?”

Matt looked between the two of them and couldn’t stop himself from opening his mouth. “So, you didn’t leave together? Wow!” He really hoped that Dom would make an excuse for them so they could get the fuck out before he said something that he would regret. It didn’t seem like it. Shit.

“No. No, he wanted to bring me home, but then something came up. Something with the bar?”

Matt laughed loudly. “Darling,” he started and knew this would end in disaster, “he uses that excuse on every girl he doesn’t want to keep around. ‘Oh, something needs fixing. I’ll be right back!’ and he takes the next train to Timbuktu. And oh, oh! Don’t tell me he shagged you in the toilet before? That’s _so_ his trick. He has a thing for toilets, you know? When I filmed him fucking this girl a couple of -”

“Okay, that’s fucking enough!” Dom finally interrupted him and pulled him away from the poor girl who seemed to be on the verge of tears. The blonde gave her a small smile and told her, “Sorry about him, he’s wrong in the head. I’ll call you,” before he stormed off with Matt in tow.

“Dom!” Matt shouted when the blonde had finally let go of his jacket. He got a shove as a reply and Dom walked away from him quickly.

“Dom, please don’t be like that.” He quickly walked after his bandmate. “You know I can’t do anything about it. I’m sorry!”

But Dom didn’t stop until he had reached the car. He unlocked the doors and was just about to get in, when Matt had finally caught up. “Dom!”

“Shut up, Matt. Just shut the fuck up.” Dom mumbled angrily. “I’m sick of your honesty trip. I’m done for today.”

Matt could do nothing but cross his arms and shout back, “Well, excuse me, it’s not like I’m enjoying this. But you had to go and tease me at the damn party and now I’m stuck with this shit, so we’ll both have to deal with it.”

“So, you’re saying it’s my fault? _My_ fault?! How is that all my fault?”

“Well,” Matt started and he balled his hands into fists because one of the moments he didn’t want to have, ever, was about to happen, “I’ve always tried to please you, no? All my life I’ve tried to be like you. Even in school I only wanted to be part of your clique so you’d like me. I wanted to -”

There was a loud bang when the car door slammed shut and Dom marched over to the slightly smaller man. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pressed him against the door.

“What the fuck, Matt? Are you serious?” Dom was seething and Matt couldn’t really blame him for it, “So, I manipulated you, yes? You want to tell me that you think that I’m the cause for how you are now?”

“No, Dom, I didn’t mean…”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but you and only you are responsible for your failed existence. You can’t blame this all on me.”

Matt was sure his friend was about to hit him, but then he let go and walked back to the driver’s side. The blonde opened the door and threw another glare at Matt. “I wonder why we’re still friends, why we ever became friends, if you think so lowly of me. Do you even know what it means to feel affection towards anyone but yourself? Quite honestly, I can totally understand why Gaia left you. You’re the biggest arsehole I’ve ever met.” Then he climbed into the car and shut the door loudly before he started the engine.

Dom waited for Matt to get inside as well so they could drive home and ignore each other for the rest of the day, probably week, but the door on Matt’s side never opened. After three minutes of waiting he wondered if Matt had walked off and left him here like an idiot, but when he looked out of the window he saw his bandmate still standing there, apparently frozen to the spot. “For fuck’s sake,” the blonde swore before he shut the engine, opened his door once again and got out of the car. “Do you want to fucking take roots here or can we-” He stopped abruptly when he saw that fat tears were rolling down Matt’s cheeks. He felt a slight sting in his stomach. “Come on now, don’t be a baby.”

The singer still didn’t move, so Dom walked up to him and shook his shoulder slightly. When Matt spoke up, he had to strain his ears to hear him.

“She was right, you know.”

“Right… Right about what?” Oh, Dom had a bad feeling about this.

“About everything!”

“Everything?”

“She said I’m incapable of loving someone. Anyone. That I destroyed her life,” Matt explained through sobs that got more frequent and stronger the more he spoke. “I’m a fucking poor excuse of a human being, Dom. I don’t know how to be around people. She said my miserable attempts at relationships were the worst she’d ever experienced and maybe I should just give up and stay alone forever.” Another sob that sounded more like a painful howl escaped the singer’s lips and Dom’s heart broke into pieces.

“Oh god, Matt. Stop. Stop!” He hugged his best friend as tightly as he could without hurting him, stroking his hair tenderly. “She’s wrong, you hear me? It’s not true.”

Matt tried to wriggle out of the hug, but didn’t exactly push Dom away, so he didn’t see a reason to stop his actions. “But it is! I’ve just proven that. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t even mean it like that. I’ve just always wanted to be like you. Strong, handsome and liked by everyone. Happy.”

“Matt…” Dom was at a loss for words. He’d never seen his best friend like this. So miserable and unhappy with himself. He’d always thought Matt had not a single care in the world. But now he had to realise that, maybe, the little ball of seemingly endless energy and craziness had a lot to think about. He wished he’d known earlier.

Carefully he wiped the tears away (and wasn’t _that_ a weird action?) and tried to smile for the brunette, even though he didn’t feel like it at all. “Come on.” He nudged his bony shoulder. “Let’s get to my place. It’s getting cold out here and I don’t want to become an icicle.” He opened the door for Matt and helped him inside before he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car again.

They drove mostly in silence, only interrupted by Matt’s soft sobs. Occasionally, Dom would put his hand on Matt’s thigh to comfort him.

They arrived at the flat but stayed in the car for a while longer until Matt spoke up.

“What if I’ll stay like this forever?" he asked while he stared ahead, too afraid to meet Dom’s eyes.

The blonde turned his head around and asked, “Like… Unable to lie?” A nod was his reply. He contemplated that future for a moment. “I… I don’t know, mate.”

Another nod and Matt turned his head away, probably so Dom wouldn’t see the new tears. The blonde got out of the car quickly, opened Matt’s side and knelt next to him. “That’s okay, though,” he assured him and stroked his thigh again. “We’ll just learn to live with it. I promise, we’ll figure it out. You’re stuck with me.” At least, that pulled a relieved smile from Matt and he slowly got up from his seat. Dom took it to himself to open the door while Matt trotted behind him.

“I…” Matt started and Dom immediately felt the tension intensify, even before he turned around to see Matt trying to hold back.

“What?” He asked.

“I… I’d rather kill myself than stay like this forever. I… I don’t want to live like this, Dom. I’m sorry.”

There was a slap to Matt’s cheek, it wasn’t exactly a hard blow, but hard enough to leave red streaks across his cheek.  

“Don’t you even think like that!” Dom growled angrily. “We’ll find a way, you won’t leave me alone here. I won’t let you go that easily. Did I make myself clear?” When Matt didn’t answer immediately he asked again, “Did I make myself clear, Matt?”

“Yes.”

Dom nodded. “Good.” His face softened. “Lie down, okay? It’s my time to make us tea and something to eat. And don’t argue with me!”

He pushed Matt towards the bedroom with little resistance from the brunette and was really glad for it. He needed some time to himself, to think. Just when he was about to go to the kitchen, Matt’s tiny voice reached him.

“Hey, Dom?”

He stuck his head into the bedroom, “Yes?”

“I just…” Matt was already about to fall asleep, but there seemed to be words he wanted to get out before he passed out. “Thank you.” Then his eyes closed.

Dom covered his singer with a blanket, ruffled his hair and then went to the kitchen. He definitely needed a drink.

 

___

 

When Matt woke up his head was killing him. _That’s what you get for crying like an idiot_ , he thought angrily. He sat up abruptly and immediately regretted his decision as a dizzy spell hit him and he had to lie back down. Matt closed his eyes and put a pillow over his head in a lazy attempt at suffocating himself..

So now Dom was probably hating him. Great, so much for honesty being the way to solve his problems. He didn’t mean it like that. He never blamed Dom for his own behaviour. How could he? He was bloody thankful for everything; they had become one of the biggest bands in the world and he had felt like he _belonged_ somewhere.  

And then Gaia had left him and everything had gone tits up. He doubted himself quite easily, he had always done, so when his girlfriend threw these things at him he naturally assumed that he was the biggest fail in history. And he had proven that over the last months, hadn’t he?

He got out of bed, slowly this time, and rubbed his face. He had to face reality and confront Dom. If he was even around anymore. The drummer had probably left after he’d put Matt to bed, no matter how much he’d promised to stay by Matt’s side. So when the brunette entered the kitchen and saw his best friend sitting at the table he was confused, relieved and astonished at the same time. Then he saw what was lying in front of Dom and his blood ran cold.

The taller man finally looked up after he’d sensed Matt’s presence and frowned. “Hey…” he said softly and motioned for Matt to sit down on the chair next to him. The singer followed and did just that, but averted his eyes. He couldn’t look Dom in the eyes. Not with his resolutions list sitting on the tabletop.

“I’m sorry. I needed a drink and was looking for a glass,” the drummer explained. “I found it by accident. And I… Matt, why didn’t you talk to me?”

“About what? That my life is in a bit of a shit hole and I’m incapable of crawling out myself?”

Dom sighed. “No. That you needed someone to listen and to support you.”

Matt huffed and cursed himself internally. He was doing it again, someone offering his help and Matt pushing them away.

“Listen,” Dom started and turned his whole body to Matt. “I didn’t know you felt overwhelmed with the band. You should have told me. Or Chris. Anyone. We would have helped you with all of it.”

Matt laughed humourless. “And admit defeat? No thanks.” He crossed his arms. So if Dom asked and he wanted the whole truth, then please. It’s not like he could lie now anyway. “This may be our band, but _I_ am the frontman. Everyone expects _me_ to be the head of this. Everyone looks at me, they whisper behind my back. My reputation is the band’s. You can go out and do whatever the fuck you want. I don’t have that luxury. Whatever I say or do, I get judged. By the media, by the fans. Hell, even by you guys.” He took a deep breath to calm down before he could embarrass himself by crying again. “So no, I couldn’t ask for help.”

Dom stared at him. Something changed in the drummer’s expression the longer Matt had talked. Was it sadness that clouded his eyes? “And the thing with Gaia?” He finally asked. “Why didn’t you come to me? You said you were fine. Hurt, sure, but fine otherwise. Why did you lie about it?”

“Because I couldn’t come to you and watch you make fun of me again!” The singer snapped and instantly felt sorry for his brutal honesty. He apologised, but Dom waved his hand to show him it was okay. “Listen, I know she’s right. No, don’t say she’s not, we both know it. It’s enough that one person I love… loved rejected me like this, I didn’t want to add you to the list. You would have laughed me in the face and told me to get over it. Or worse, agreed with her and realised what a fuck-up I am.”

He looked at Dom and waited for his reaction. He fully expected him to start shouting again, to repeat his angry outburst from yesterday, but instead, the blonde only sat there, staring at the paper angrily.

At last, he sighed. “And I’ve proven that to you yesterday, haven’t I? I know I have. I’m sorry. I was so angry and just _wanted_ to hurt you, so I did just that. Can you forgive me? I’ll try to be better, promise. ”

“Of course!” Matt exclaimed in relief. “You’re one of the best things in my life, I could never not forgive you. I never want to lose you.”

Finally, Dom looked at him and a small smile graced his lips.

Feeling brave and because he couldn’t stop his traitorous mouth anyway, Matt added “Dom, you’re the single most important person to me. I don’t care about anything else. I just want you to like me and stay with me.” Yeah, okay. That was kind of an admission, wasn’t it? There was no going back now.

He didn’t expect the blonde to move closer to him and he definitely didn’t expect two hands to hold his face. When Dom spoke up it was soft, barely a whisper. “You silly moose. I’ve always liked you or else we wouldn’t be here now. You might be a lunatic with a slight tendency to overreact and non-diagnosed Tourette’s.” If Matt weren’t so shocked and frozen, he would have kicked Dom’s shin for that. Alas, he couldn’t even breathe anymore. “But you’re my Matthew. You could never ruin us or make me walk away from you. Even if it’s hard to believe sometimes, with the intensity of our fights. I’ll always stick around, you hear me? Because I like you just the way you are.”

And before anyone could utter another word, Dom pressed his lips against Matt’s.

At first, the singer went completely rigid and squinted at his drummer’s face directly in front of him, pure shock and wonder fighting for dominance on his features. Slowly, Dom opened his eyes again and smiled softly at Matt’s bafflement. The brunette’s heart took a great leap at looking into his grey eyes so close to his and finding no disgust or rejection there.

“Dom… I… What… This…” Matt spluttered and Dom slightly shook his head, smile still in place.

“If I’d known what it takes to shut you up, I’d have done it way earlier.”

At that Matt furrowed his brows at the smirking blonde and plunged forward, wrapping his arms around his friend’s neck in a leap of confidence and attacked Dom’s mouth with his own.

A surprised laugh escaped the drummer’s lips, but he caught up quickly and encircled the singer’s waist with both arms, pressing him flush against his chest.

 _About fucking time_ , a tiny voice inside Matt’s head commented and the brunette couldn’t help but agree.

It didn’t take them long until they were standing in Dom’s bedroom. Matt’s sweater was already lying on the floor and his fingers were busy with unbuttoning Dom’s shirt. Granted, it wasn’t an easy task given that the singer’s brain felt completely fried and those few cells that had survived were focused on the absorbing, tingly sensation Dom’s lips were causing on his.

He would never admit it later, but his knees almost gave way when Dom’s shirt _finally_ made its way down his lean arms and to the ground and their chests were suddenly pressed up against each other, courtesy of Dom. The singer’s breath became hitched when two hands wandered down his back ever so slowly and came to rest on his bum. Dom smirked into their almost frantic kiss when he felt Matt’s body shudder against reacting to his.

After a few minutes spent in comfortably rising tension, Matt released his friend’s… lover’s… Dom’s lips and smiled coyly at him. Dom couldn’t resist, though, once he’d tasted those lips and stole another small kiss from them. Then he leant back a little while shoving his hands into the back pockets of Matt’s pants, giving his bum a light squeeze.

Matt followed Dom’s movements hungrily and tried to capture his lips again but the blonde dodged him with a low chuckle. The singer actually pouted at that and Dom was immediately tempted again. But there was something he wanted to say first, so he concentrated his remaining sanity on it.

“So, about that threesome fantasy…”

“Way to kill the mood, Howard. I really, really don’t wanna think about Chris right now.”

“No, no… just… did you mean it when you said that you’d want to be… under me?”

Matt’s heart skipped a beat at being reminded of that certain admission, but he nodded nevertheless. It was a truth he wouldn’t have lied about, not when he was in Dom’s bedroom. _With_ Dom. He closed his eyes as he said, “Yes, I meant it.”

“Thank God.” Dom let out a light hearted laugh. Matt frowned at him, so Dom hurried to elaborate. “It’s just that I’ve been kind of dreaming about that ever since you mentioned it.”

“Well…” Matt’s frown quickly morphed into a cheeky smirk. “What are you waiting for then?”

“Little shit,” Dom snickered and, without warning, pushed Matt onto his bed.

The smaller man landed back first in the middle the mattress and a surprised “oof” escaped his lips. Only a second later his body was already covered by Dom’s. Feeling that weight on him, Matt’s brain kicked in again and he got a little scared. He’d already heard enough stories about how much it could hurt to last a life time. But when Dom’s lips landed on his again, all those negative thoughts were forgotten for the time being.

Dom had seen the small flicker of doubt in his lover’s eyes, though and asked “You okay?”

Matt nodded hesitantly, then admitted shyly “I just… This is the first time I…” Of course he knew that Dom could guess that he’d never done anything with a man before, but saying it out loud made him feel way beyond embarrassed and he had to hide his face behind his hands.

A small chuckle made him feel even more humiliated, but then he felt Dom’s hands touch his own and moved them away from his face. “Well then,” the blonde said and kissed Matt again, “I guess I’ll have to teach you.” Another kiss followed, this time on his nose.

After that Dom could finally feel Matt relax again and his own tension started to ebb away as well. He kissed the singer’s jaw, then his chin and from there he made his slow descent down Matt’s body. The smaller man shuddered when Dom tongued the narrow path of hair that led under the waistband of his jeans and he could feel himself hardening quickly.

It didn’t help his situation, when Dom rubbed his erection through the fabric with one hand, while he started to unzip his fly. A low moan escaped the singer’s throat and, encouraged by that, Dom pulled both his trousers and boxers down in one fell swoop. Matt closed his eyes again and tried to hide himself behind his hands self-consciously. The drummer was quick enough, though, and managed to pry them away.

“Hey, don’t hide,” Dom whispered soothingly. He couldn’t take his eyes off the smaller man’s body spread out on his sheets. After a few seconds he added, “You’re beautiful,” in sheer amazement.

Matt actually managed to roll his eyes at that but blushed nevertheless. He didn’t know why but he believed him.

After Dom had gotten rid of his own remaining clothes, he lay down beside Matt, and took his time preparing him while showering him in kisses, distracting him from the initial pain. Then he rolled on a condom and asked if Matt was ready. After he’d turned onto his belly, Matt nodded in a small motion and tried to relax when Dom adjusted his hips to the angle of Matt’s bum, stroked tenderly across his spine - and pushed in carefully.

 

___

 

The next morning, Matt’s senses and memories of last night came back to him, slowly but surely. Dom pulling him close and filling him so completely. Telling him that he’s got him and won’t let him leave ever again. That they belong together. Oh. Not a dream, that had really happened. And now he was waking up in this bed. In Dom’s bed. With Dom lying next to him.

He could feel the drummer’s eyes on him, so he slowly opened his own eyes and mumbled “Stop doing that,” before hiding under his pillow. The blonde started to tickle him and Matt was defenceless, unless he let go of his pillow. Admitting defeat, he put the pillow away, just to be greeted by Dom’s soft lips on his own.

“I’m sorry,” Dom whispered softly. “Did I make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No.”

A few seconds passed before Matt amended, “Maybe a little bit.”

He put his head on the blonde’s chest and closed his eyes again. After they spent a couple of minutes in silence, Matt jerked upright and stared at Dom.

“What?”

“Dom… Dom, ask me a question. Anything.”

The drummer thought for a moment.

“Are bananas blue?”

“Yes.”

“And do you like bananas?”

“No. They’re disgusting.” The brunette started to grin.

So did Dom after a few seconds and he couldn’t stop himself from hugging Matt closely. “It’s over.” Matt breathed into Dom’s ear. “This fucking curse is broken, finally.”   

They stayed like that for a long time, both gazing outside the window. A pair of birds chased each other around a tree. It was strangely calming.

“Hey, Dom,” Matt started casually, “did you know I’m a woman?”

“I think after last night, I’d know.”

“But I am! And not only that. Dom, listen! I’m from Planet Melmac. You know that planet? It’s where ALF comes from! He’s basically my brother. Oh, and did you know? I wrote Knights about a particular night spend with Christmas shopping. You remember that day? When it was so super stressful that it felt as if you were buying food two hours before the apocalypse.”

Dom could only roll his eyes at his lover, but Matt didn’t seem discouraged at all.

“And you know what? I’ve got chickens in my garden. Well, I know you know that! But let me finish! One of the chickens has two heads. Two heads, Dom! I call her Wilma, I don’t know why. She’s a nice girl, really. But you have to be careful at night, you know? She’s like, she breaks out at night and walks through the streets. And she doesn’t only walk, no, Dom, she goes through rubbish bins and steals empty coke cans. Can you imagine that? Coke cans! But only the real coke, not that Pepsi rubbish. She’s not a fan of Pepsi. And oh, Dom, did you know…” He went on and on without really stopping to take breath and fully expected Dom to stop him at some point, because come on, that was a lot of shit he was talking. But Dom just kept quiet and listened with a small smile on his lips.

“What?” the singer asked him confused.

“I’m really glad your curse is gone.”

Now it was Matt’s turn to smile. “Me too, Dom, me too.” After he put his head back on Dom’s chest they both remained in comfortable silence until the brunette spoke again. “Hey, Dom?”

“Good god, Bellamy, what else do you want to tell me? Do you party with the emperor of Mars? Or are you a secret agent for the MI6?”

“No, I… No.” Matt sounded almost shy. He drew tender circles around Dom’s left nipple. “This is actually the absolute truth.” He sat up properly this time because he wanted to look Dom in the eye for this. Matt took a deep breath. “I love you, you know? Like, I really, really love you.” He couldn’t help himself and started touching Dom’s cheek with his hand. He needed to touch and show Dom that he was indeed telling the truth, that Dom meant the world to him. So he repeated, “I love you,” and kissed the corner of his love’s mouth.

The day was spent in bed with lots of kissing, cuddling and sex. There was also some (okay, lots) of teaching from Dom’s side concerning the blowjob problem, but thankfully, Matt was a quick learner and they could use the time for the more advanced lessons of Dom Howard’s Guide to Sextasy (“Don’t fucking laugh, Matt, it’s gonna be a bestseller and you know it.”). They were just immersed in another session of “Lesson 31: How to lick champagne out of your partner’s belly button without looking like a German Shepherd dying of thirst” when the phone rang. Groaning for different reasons than just 20 seconds ago, Dom turned around and fished for his mobile. “Oh, shit.” Matt turned as well and looked at him questioningly. “It’s Chris.” He picked up and immediately turned to speakers, so Matt could listen as well.

“Dom, hey. Listen, I called Matt and wanted to know how he’s faring, but he didn’t pick up again. I’m really worried here, is he okay?”

“Yes, yes, don’t worry,” Dom assured him. “I’m with him at the moment and he…”

“I was just about to get my cock sucked!” Matt interrupted him.

Shocked, Dom nearly dropped the phone. “What the _fuck_ , Matt?!” But the brunette put a finger to his lips as a signal to stay quiet and grabbed the phone. The manic grin could only mean trouble.

“Erm…” Chris began, unsure. “That’s… good? I mean… Yeah, good for you. Yeah.”

“You should come over. Join us. You know. It’s not the same without you here.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll have to pass.” A short silence. “Matt, you should…”

“But Chris!” Matt interrupted. “I’ve been waiting for you! I’m all lubed up and dripping when I think about you. Please, please give me the infamous Wolstenglory.” How the man could stay serious, Dom would never be able to explain. Poor Chris.

There was an awkward cough from the other end of the phone call, then, “Right, I’ve gotta go. Have… fun or whatever.” And Chris hung up before anyone could utter another word. The laughter that followed shook Matt’s body so hard that he would have catapulted himself from the bed, if it weren't for Dom’s quick reflexes.

“You know,” the blonde said between giggles, “I hope you realise that Chris thinks you’re still bound to say the truth and he’s probably creeped out as fuck now.”

If that was even possible, Matt’s grin got broader. “I know, that’s why I did it.”

They laughed together for a couple of minutes before they resumed their previous activities. “You do realise that you’ll have to explain this to Chris, yes?” Dom chuckled again while he caressed Matt’s left inner thigh. The soft moan the small action elicited from his lover pleased him more than he cared to admit and he was just about to replace his hands with his mouth when he added, as an afterthought, “If he ever speaks to us again. And stays in the band. And doesn’t leave the country and get a new identity.”

 

___

 

Nearly a year later, Matt sat at the same table he had chosen last year’s New Year’s party, but for entirely different reasons. This year, he liked to watch everyone celebrating and being happy with each other. He spotted Chris dancing with Kelly and when they made eye contact, he winked at the bassist, to which he was pretty sure Chris mouthed “cheeky bugger” back. He remembered how the taller man hadn’t talked to him and Dom for days after the phone call. Only when Kelly was sick of her husband’s hiding they got the chance to clear things up and tell Chris that the truth spell (they didn’t want to call it a curse anymore) was lifted. Matt’s favourite line from the whole conversation probably was “No, Chris, I swear, I’d never ravage your cute virgin bum like that,” although it nearly earned him a chair against the head. After that, though, it seemed like their friendship had grown a lot more. He couldn’t explain why, because it made no sense, but he was glad about it.

He raised his glass of champagne towards Chris before his eyes lowered to the letter in front of him. Dom had given it to him before he had kissed him softly and went to fuck knows where. “Something to entertain you with while I’m gone,” he had said.

Carefully, he opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. There were two sheets of paper, one of them being a letter and the other being a list. He found the list to be Dom’s resolution list for the upcoming year, so he eagerly started reading.

 

_\- buy less shoes (the shoe cabinet is bursting already)_

_\- get a new drumkit (it’s time to part, old friend)_

_\- start using anti-wrinkle cream (just in case)_

_\- learn how to make Pasta Arrabiata (because I’m seriously lacking in the pasta department)_

 

The last two items on the list made his heart stop for a moment, though.

 

_\- tell Matt that he’s beautiful (because he is)_

_\- never let him go (no explanation needed)_

 

“Dom…” Matt whispered. He felt tears well up in his eyes, so he put the resolution list away and started reading the letter, his heart beating fast.

 

_Matt,_

_it’s been 359 days (or 51 weeks and 2 days, whatever you prefer) since I have kissed you for the first time and I can’t say I’m getting tired of kissing you yet. I know you keep saying that this whole ordeal was a curse, even though we both agreed on calling it “The Truth Spell Disaster”, but to me? It might sound mad to you, but it’s a blessing, somehow. I mean, I’ve got you now, after all. That’s the best thing that could have happened. Ever._

_I know it’s a ~~bit silly~~ really silly to quote our own songs, but I’ll never let you go, if you promise not to fade away. It’s amazingly cheesy, but it’s the truth. I want to show you how amazing you are and what you mean to me. I want you to be mine until the end of our days._

_Happy New Year, I love you_

_Your Dom_

 

Matt rubbed at his eyes to get rid of the wetness. Man, Dom really was a girl. But he liked it. He really did.

The singer stuffed the papers back into the envelope and then in his coat pocket before he got up and went to look for his lover. Looking around frantically, he didn’t see anyone approaching until a person bumped into his shoulder. “Matthew,” a voice said and Matt recognized it immediately. How could he forget, when it belonged to the person who was responsible for his misery at the beginning of the year. “I see you’ve done it, congratulations.” Matt was just about to turn around, but he seemed to be frozen to the spot. “Never forget,” the man continued while he put a hand on Matt’s shoulder, “ _There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting._ ” Then he walked away without another word. When the singer could finally turn, the mysterious man was gone. Again. He stared at the empty spot for a long, long time.

“Is everything alright?” Another voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He moved around to face a very concerned Dom.

“I…”

“What happened? Matt, are you okay?” Immediately Dom touched the smaller man’s cheek and stroked it tenderly, clearly worried.

Matt leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. “I’m okay,” he said. “For the first time in a long time, I’m alright.” He opened his eyes again and smiled at his boyfriend. His right hand went to the back of Dom’s neck to pull him close for a kiss. “Let’s join the others. Can’t miss the countdown, can we?”

Dom nodded and Matt awarded him with another kiss before they walked over to their group of friends.


End file.
